22-Oct-2006 -- Story starts at 37N 137E
After reaching Namur, Madame de Bourboulon had two options to reach Paris by train: the longest via Brussels and the second via Charleroi. But she could also have taken a shorter way and followed the Meuse River through the Ardennes. Although the railway line wasn’t entirely finished yet between Namur and the French border at Givet, a distance of 47km, she could have taken either the mall post or the boat. In 1862, from Givet, the line was already opened and then direct to Paris.
I reached the Meuse River a few kilometers after visiting 51N 6E in Germany and followed it through Belgium all the way to Sedan in the French department of the Ardennes. This region is typified by a steep-sided valley, the Meuse Valley, named after the river. At Hargnies, I made a small round trip to the confluence by going back into Belgium were the confluence 50N 5E is located.
The GPS took me directly to the point. And again, like some of the confluences I had visited during the past few weeks, I didn’t even have to get off the motorbike to find it.
Story continues at
49N 3E